Impeller wheel



Dec. 21, 1954 DAVEY t IMPELLER WHEEL Filed Feb. 19, 1951 20 7 3y W Z W Unite States Patent t 2,697,589 IMPELLER WHEEL Kingsley Davey, University City, Mo.

Application February 19, 1951, Serial No. 211,787

4 Claims. (Cl. 259-134) The present invention relates generally to impellers, and more particularly to a fabricated impeller which drives material being mixed to both sides of a plane extending through the impeller and at right angles to its axis of rotation.

industry has long needed a simple device for efliciently mixing liquids and other materials, and particularly a construction which will substantially eliminate, or reduce to a negligible degree, flow Stratification. To overcome the many disadvantages found in the numerous mixing devices now available in industry and elsewhere, there is presently provided in the preferred embodiment a fabricated impeller which comprises a hub to which is welded a radially extending notched flange. Into each notch is welded an appropriately curved blade, alternate blades being feathered or angled to opposite sides of a plane considered to extend radially through the flange, so that liquid or the like being mixed is thrown to both sides of such plane. For balance, an even number of blades is employed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel impeller which is of fabricated construction and of a design to overcome the deficiencies of impellers presently available in industry and elsewhere.

Another object is to provide a novel impeller which incorporates an even number of alternately feathered blades, by means of which liquid or the like being mixed is thrown to alternate sides of a plane through the impeller and at right angles to its axis of rotation.

Another object is to provide a novel impeller which has an effective blade width substantially equal to twice the width of the blade.

Another object is to provide a novel impeller which incorporates alternately feathered blades alternately angled above and below a plane at right angles to the axis of rotation.

Another object is to provide a novel impeller which is of fabricated construction and which includes a radial flange and impeller blades welded thereto.

Other objects are to provide a novel impeller which is of sturdy and simple construction, which may be readily fabricated with desired pitch of blade, and which has wide adaptation in the mixing field.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages are apparent from the following description taken with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of an impeller incorporating the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view on substantially the line 22 of Fig. l, the blades being shown in elevation;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the other side of the impeller from that shown in Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatical view illustrating one use of the present impeller.

Referring to the drawing more particularly by reference numerals, It) indicates generally an impeller embodying the teachings of the present invention. The impeller includes a hub 12 having a key-way 14 extending longitudinally therethrough and a threaded aperture 16 extending radially into the key-Way 14, a radial flange 1S welded to the hub 12 adjacent one end, and a plurality of impeller blades 20 welded in angularly disposed slots or notches 22 formed in the periphery of the flange 18. Each impeller blade 20 is of arcuate form longitudinally and of rectangular cross section, and is disposed at an angle to a plane considered to extend radially through the flange 18. Alternate slots 22 are oppositely angled I 2,697,589 Patented Dec. 21, 1954 2 relative to the aforementioned radial plane, as is clear from the drawing; so that the free ends of alternate impeller blades 2i) are disposed on opposite sides of this radial plane through the flange 18. Fig. 2 shows that a line 23 through the flange 18 touches the upper freecorner-of the left blade 20 and the lower free corner ofvthe right blade .20. Hence, thee'ifec'tiye width of the impeller 10 is substantially twice the width of the blades 20. .It is to be noted that the impellerl ll may have a diameter of five feet or more in some installations.

In Fig. 4, the impeller 10 is illustrated as secured to the lower end of a shaft 24 by means of a key 26 and a setscrew 28. The impeller 10 is located ina mixing tank The shaft 24 is connected by a coupling 32 to a driven shaft 34 which extends downwardly from a gear reduction box 36 mounted upon a supporting beain,38. A motor 443 is shown on the support 355 and connected into the gear reduction box 36 for driving the impeller Manifestly, the position of the impeller 10in rela tion to the bottom of the mixing tank 30 may be as desiredby the user. Rotation of the impeller 10 effects aneflicien't mixing of l quid 42 within the mixing tank 30, since half of the impeller blades 20 drive the liquid upwardly, whereas the other half drive the liquid downwardly. As is indicated in Fig. 4, liquid 42 leaves the blades 20 as a body 44 of substantially cone cross section, and then moves as shown upwardly and downwardly. The liquid driven downwardly effects a cleaning action at the corners and at the bottom side junctures of the mixing tank 30, which is a highly desirable action, for, otherwise, material in many mixers will build up in such areas. Manifestly, there will be a highly efficient mixing of the liquid or other material in the upward movement of part and the downward movement of an additional part, for there will be an interchange of the portions of the liquid or the like thus moved in opposite directions. An excellent, highly desirable turbulence is thereby effected. Where the tank 31) is deep, two or more impellers 10 may be secured to the shaft 24.

The hub 12 and the flange 18 are illustrated as welded together, but these may be made as an integral member. Furthermore, the novel feature of fabricating the base elements and the impeller blades 20 may be applied to impeller blades 20 disposed in a common plane and at right angles to the flange 18 rather than as illustrated. Additionally, the blades 20 may be straight instead of arcuate as shown, and, in either form, may be feathered n a plane at right angles to the axis of rotation of the impeller 10, although such construction, of course, will not achieve the effective double width advantage achieved b the form shown in the drawing.

The illustrated form of impeller 10 includes slots 22 in the flange 18, but slots may be formed in the ends of the blades 20 instead, if desired. The form shown reduces precision requirements.

It is manifest that there has been provided a fabricated impeller which fulfills the objects and advantages sought therefor.

It is to be understood that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawing have been given by way of illustration and example. It is also to be understood that changes in the form of the elements, rearrangement of parts, and substitution of equivalent elements, which will be obvious to those skilled in the art, are contemplated as within the scope of the present invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. An impeller comprising a hub having an axis of rotation, and impeller blades secured to said hub and extending outwardly from its axis of rotation, alternate blades extending upwardly and downwardly on opposite sides of a plane extending at right angles to the axis of rotation of said hub and through at least a portion of each blade, alternate blades being pitched alternately predetermined angles disposing the material engaging surfaces alternately upwardly and downwardly so that agitated material in the zone of turbulence is alternately directed upwardly and downwardly.

2. An impeller comprising a hub having an axis of rotation, and impeller blades secured to said hub and extending outwardly from its axis of rotation, alternate blades extending upwardly and downwardly on opposite sides of a plane extending at right angles to the axis of rotation of said hub and through at least a portion of each blade alternate blades being pitched alternately predetermined angles disposing the material engaging surfaces alternately upwardly and downwardly so that agitated material in the zone of turbulence is alternately directed upwardly and downwardly, a substantial portion of the blade tip of each of said upwardly extending blades being above said plane, and a substantial portion of the blade tip of each of said downwardly extending blades being below said plane.

3. An impeller comprising a hub having an axis of rotation, and impeller blades secured to said hub and extending outwardly from its axis of rotation, each blade comprising an arcuate bar, the agitated material engaging surface of which is in an arcuate plane, alternate blades extending upwardly and downwardly on opposite sides of a plane extending at right angles to the axis of rotation of said hub and through at least a portion of each blade, alternate blades being pitched alternately predetermined angles so that agitated material in the zone of turbulence is alternately directed upwardly and downwardly.

4. An impeller comprising a hub having an axis of rotation, and impeller blades secured to said hub and extending outwardly from its axis of rotation, each blade comprising an arcuate bar, the agitated material engaging surface of which is in an arcuate plane, alternate blades extending upwardly and downwardly on opposite sides of a plane extending at right angles to the axis of rotation of said hub and through at least a portion of each blade, alternate blades being pitched alternately predetermined angles so that agitated material in the zone of turbulence is alternately directed upwardly and downwardly, a substantial portion of the blade tip of each of said upwardly extending blades being above said plane, and a substantial portion of the blade tip of each of said downwardly extending blades being below said plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,279,515 Coleman Sept. 24, 1918 1,374,843 Flaherty Apr. 12, 1921 1,439,328 Ramsey et al Dec. 19, 1922 2,151,146 Petry Mar. 21, 1939 2,159,856 MacLean May 23, 1939 2,201,947 Valentine May 21, 1940 2,552,057 Paik May 8, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 401,583 Great Britain Nov. 16, 1933 

